(Lech this morning)
Another wave of snow has been crossing the Alps over the past few days and is expected to bring accumulations of up to 50cm in total by the weekend, with most areas getting 20-40cm at higher elevations.
For many resorts it's the third such wave of snowfall in the last five weeks and whilst it's too early to be sure, there's hopes that the area is now enjoying a weather cycle which will crucially continue over the next two months in the run up to the main season.
The snowfall began at some areas including Val Thorens in France on Monday afternoon and is expected to be heaviest in the next 36 hours for most resorts.
Solden in Austria, which opened a week early in mid-September following a similar snowfall at the end of summer back then, posted a 'powder alarm' this morning after receiving 26cm of snow in the last 24 hours.
It is scheduled to stage the first of the Northern Hemisphere's World Cup races the weekend after this.
Lech in the Arlberg (pictured above) is not open yet but people have been walking up to ski.
Currently 15 glacier ski areas are open in the Alps, more than half in Austria where gear tests and October Fests are the order of the day, the fresh snow being a big bonus. The number is due to grow on Saturday with the scheduled openings of the Diavolezza glacier near St Moritz in Switzerland and Cervinia in Italy (At weekends then full time from November).
South of the equator it is still snowing in South America too with Valle Nevado announcing it will extend its season to this coming Sunday having planned to close last weekend as a result of what it describes as the best October conditions in a decade there. Turoa in New Zealand is also still open and plans to stay open through October.